Film wind-up spool

ABSTRACT

A film wind-up spool for receiving developed x-ray and other photographic film comprising a cylindrical body and a removable flanged head associated at the one end of the body. The flanged head connects to a resilient insert which fits within the interior of the body at the end thereof to removably secure the head to the body. The insert flexes from an initial, unstressed position wherein it may be readily inserted into and removed from the end of the body to a second, binding position wherein it locks within the body to secure the flanged head to the end of the body.

United States Patent Hope et al.

[151 3,682,409 [4 1 Aug. 8, 1972 [54] FILM WIND-UP SPOOL Appl. No.: 137,300

U.S. Cl ..242/7l.8, 242/ 1 15 Int. Cl ..B65h 75/22, B65h 75/ 14 Field of Search....242/71.8, 71.8 A, 71.9, 118.4,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,542,305 11/1970 Feierabend ..242/68.3 3,383,067 5/1968 Uritis ..242/68.3

Pn'mary Examiner-George F. Mautz Assistant Examiner-Edward J. McCarthy Attorney-Karl L. Spivak ABSTRACT A film wind-up spool for receiving developed x-ray and other photographic film comprising a cylindrical body and a removable flanged head associated at the one end of the body. The flanged head connects to a resilient insert which fits within the'interior of the body at the end thereof to removably secure the head to the body. The insert flexes from an initial, unstressed position wherein it may be readily inserted into and removed from the end of the body to a second, binding position wherein it locks within the body to secure the flanged head to the end of the body.

10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAUB 8 I972 INVENTORS.

HENRY STEPHE F HOPE N E HOPE A BY K iv/2.

ATTORN FILM WIND-UPSPOOL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to the field of photographic developing equipment and, more particularly,

is directed to a film wind-up spool for receiving developed x-ray and other photographic film from automatic film developing and processing equipment.

It is the usual practice to develop x-ray and other photographic film in various types of automatic film processing equipment which usually include a plurality of side by side processing tanks and various types of rack assemblies within the tanks to direct the film automatically through the various stages of the development process. Most film used in conjunction with the automatic film developing equipment is in elongate web configuration and is developed without cutting or other alteration of the original film web length.

Following the developing process within the automatic film developing apparatus, the film in elongate form exits the developing equipment and is rolled upon a spool for immediate storage purposes prior to retuming the completely developed film to the customer. The prior art spools as presently available are generally cylindrical in form to receive the developed film and include flanged ends to facilitate winding the developed film upon the spool. One of the flanged ends must be removable to enable the developing laboratory to readily remove the film from the spool before delivery to the customer. This is normally accomplished by providing head construction at one end of the spool that is removable in nature so that the film may be separated from the spool in a roll form by first removing the head and then moving the film axially outwardly to dissassociate the film from the spool at the then open end thereof.

All of the prior art spools of which we are aware are relatively complicated in construction and depend upon cumbersome mechanical fasteners for removal and attachment of the flanged head to the spool construction. Such prior art devices have included bolted connections, pinned connections and-other relatively costly and time-consuming methods of attachment.

The prior art construction greatly increased cost of operation both in equipment costs and in the time con sumed in operating the mechanical details of the prior art spools.

I SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to automatic film developing equipment and more particularly is directed to a novel film wind-up spool incorporating a readily removable head for film removal purposes.

The film windup spool of the present invention incorporates a generally hollow, cylindrical body adaptable to receive elongate film webs thereon following the film developing process. The body terminates laterally in the respective flanged heads of the sufficient size to retain the film web upon the spool body as the film exits the developing apparatus and winds upon the spool.

One of the flanged heads is fabricated in the usual manner to permanently affix at one end of the cylindrical body. The other flanged head removably affixes to the second end of the body and incorporates a resilient insert which is operable from an unflexed condition for insertion and removal purposes to a flexed condition for locking the insert interiorly of the spool body. An axially aligned stem reciprocates through the head from an initial position to a final position in response to the operation of a cam lever. The stem functions the resilient insert from the unflexed condition to the flexed condition which correspond respectively with the initial position and final position of the stern. Thus, by operation of the cam lever, the resilient insert may alternately be flexed and unflexed to either affix the flanged head or to remove the flanged head from one end of the hollow, cylindrical spool body.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved novel film wind-up spbol of the type set forth.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel film wind-up spool incorporating a hollow, cylindrical body and a flanged head removably affixed at one end of the body, the said head being associated with a resilient insert for body securing purposes.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel film windup spool including hollow, cylindrical body means and removable flanged head means associated at one end of the body, the flanged head means incorporating a resilient insert which is operable from an unflexed position to a flexed position, the said flanged head being removable from the body means when the resilient insert is in the unflexed position and said flanged head affixing to the body means when the resilient insert is urged to the flexed position.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel film windup spool that includes a flanged head removably affixed to one end of a hollow cylindrical body, said flanged head incorporating flanged head connecting means, the said connecting means being movable from an unflexed position to a flexed position, the connecting means further including a cam lever which serves to function the connecting means.

lt is another object of the present invention to provide a novel film windup spool that includes a flanged head which is removably affixed to one end of a hollow; cylindrical f body, the said flanged head incorporating flanged head connecting means, thesaid connecting means being movable from an unflexed position to a flexed position, the connecting meansincluding cam lever, and an axially aligned stem associated with the cam lever, the said stemoperating a resilientinsert from an unflexed position to a flexed position in response to function of the cam lever, the said flanged head'afiixing 'to' the body when the resilientinsert is operated to its flexed position.

vention will behad by referring to the following description and claims of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken into conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view of the invention, showing the functioning parts of the removable flanged head assembly.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, partial, side elevational view, partially broken away to expose interior construction details, showing the flanged head assembly associated with the spool body with the resilient insert in unstressed position.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, partial, side elevational view similar to FIG. 2, showing the resilient insert in the flexed, head afiixing position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Although specific terms are used in the following description for the sake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to the particular structure of our invention selected for illustration in the drawings and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, we show a film windup spool incorporating a removable flanged head assembly 12 at one lateral end 14 thereof. The other lateral end of the spool body is conventionally formed with a permanently affixed head and is not further discussed in this application. The spool body 16 is formed to a generally hollow, cylindrical configuration of material possessing the necessary durability and rigidity for film winding purposes. The hollow interior 18 of the spool body 16 removably receives the head assembly resilient insert 20 therein to removably secure the head assembly to the spool body 16.

The head assembly 12 includes the resilient insert 20 which preferably is formed of a sturdy, resilient material which is capable of being readily molded or otherwise formed to the desired configuration. Rubber or vinyl plastic material has been found suitable for this purpose. The resilient insert 20 is integrally formed to a generally cylindrical shape and includes cylindrical sidewalls 22 which terminate outwardly in an open end 24 and inwardly in a closed end 26. Preferably, the

resilient insert sidewalls 22 and closed end 26 are integrally molded or otherwise fabricated to form a unitary construction for cooperative flexure as hereinafter more fully set forth. The closed end 26 is axially punched or otherwise treated to form an axial opening 28 which is positioned to receive the cam lever operating stem 42 therethrough. The exterior surface 30 of the cylindrical sidewalls 22 are scored or otherwise treated to provide a plurality of annular, spaced depressions 32 and a plurality of spaced, axially extending depressions 34. The depressions 32,34 cooperate to provide a non-slip surface for securing the resilient insert within the interior of the spool body 16 when the insert is stressed to its flexed position (FIG. 3).

The head assembly 12 further includes a flanged head 36 which axially aligns with the resilient insert 20 and has its inner face in contact with the open end 24 of the sidewall 22. The flanged head 36 is fabricated of non-resilient material of sufficient diameter to define an annular flange 38 which radially extends at right angles to the axis of the spool body 16. An axially aligned hole 40 pierces the head 36 and reciprocally receives the operating stem 42 therein as hereinafter more fully set forth.

As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the operating stem 42 may be hollow or solid and cylindrically formed of strong, non-resilient material such as steel or hard plastic. The

operating stem is provided near one end of thereof with a transverse opening 44 to receive the cam lever pivot pin 46 therein. The interior end 48 of the stem 42 is machined to form internal threads 50 which receive the insert flexing stud 52 in threaded engagement therein. The stud 52 is formed with an outwardly extending threaded shank 54 to threadedly engage the internal threads 50 formed in the operating stem 42. The shank 54 terminates inwardly in a circular head 56 of sufficient diameter to provide an extended circular bearing surface 58 which contacts the interior surface 60 of the resilient insert closed end 26 to outwardly flex the sidewalls 22 of the resilient insert 20. The diameter of the bearing surface must be sufficient to flex sidewalls 22 of the resilient insert 20 without buckling or otherwise deforming the closed end 26 wall construction. In this manner, flexure forces imposed by reciprocation of the operating stem 46 upon the insert 20 will be transmitted entirely to the cylindrical insert sidewall 22 for head assembly locking purposes.

A cam lever 62 pivotally connects to the exterior end 64 of the operating stem 42 by means of the pivot pin 46 which seats within the transverse opening 44. The cam lever 62 includes a generally L-shaped body and includes an operating leg 66 and a cam leg 68 which integrally extend at right angles. The cam leg 68 bifurcates to overlie the exterior end 64 of the operating stem 46 and incorporates the transversely aligned openings 70 which receive the cam lever pivot in 46 therethrough. The operating leg 66. terminates outwardly in a finger press 72 to facilitate functioning the cam lever 62. The cam leg 68 terminates inwardly in a rounded cam surface 74 for operating stern reciprocation as hereinafter more fully set forth.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the cam lever 62 is shown pivotal about the pin 46 from an initial, unstressed position 76 as illustrated to a final stressed position 78, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The cam leg 68 acts as a crank as the cam lever 62 pivots from the initial position 76 to the final position 78 to reciprocate the pin affixed operating stem 42 within the axially aligned hole 40 provided in the flanged head 36. The cam surface 74 bears against the head affixed washer 80 to pull the stem 42 axially outwardly as the cam lever 62 pivots to the final position 78. The outwardly directed axial movement of the stem 62 pulls the threadedly affixed stud 52 and its extended bearing surface 58 outwardly through an equal distance. Movement of the bearing surface 58 pushes upon the interior surface 60 of the resilient insert 40 and moves the interior surface outwardly closer to the flanged head 36. Inasmuch asthe interior surface 60 is fabricated to be relatively inflexible and the sidewalls 22 are fabricated and more flexible, it is the purpose of this invention to flex the cylindrical sidewalls 22 upon outward movement of the interior surface 60.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the diameter of the cylindrical sidewalls 22 is less than the interior cross sectional diameter of the spool body 16 to thereby easily permit relative movement between the resilient insert 20 and the spool body 16 when it is desired to either remove or replace the head assembly 12. When the stem 62 is reciprocated to its final position 78, the interior surface 60 is pulled toward the flanged head 36 to thereby outwardly flex the insert sidewalls 22. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the sidewalls 22 bow outwardly and tightly engage against the interior peripheral surface of the spool body 16 near the end 14 of the spool body 16 when the cam lever 62 is pivoted to its final position 78. The flexure stresses imposed upon the cylindrical sidewalls 22 serve to tightly clamp the head assembly 12 upon the end of the spool body 16. The annular and axial depressions 32, 34 serve to enhance the frictional engagement between the sidewalls 22 and the interior periphery of the spool body 16, in much the same manner as tire treads increase the traction between an automobile tire and the road surface.

It will be noted in FIG. 3 that the center line of the cam lever cam leg 68 turns past the axis of the operating stem 42 and serves to lock the head assembly 12 upon the spool body 16 when the cam lever pivots to the final position 78. Thus, the head assembly 12 cannot be removed until the cam lever 62 is rotated counterclockwise a distance sufiicient to rotate the center line of the cam leg 62 past the axis of the operating stem 42. The natural resiliency of the cylindrical sidewalls 22 serves to push the closed insert end 26 inwardly once the cam leg 68 rotates past the axis of the operating stem 42 to both urge the insert to its unstressed position as in FIG. 2 and to pivot the cam lever 62 to its initial position 76 as in FIG. 2 by interaction of the cam surface 74 against the washer 80.

We claim:

1. In a film wind-up spool of the type incorporating a hollow body and a pair of a laterally spaced flanged heads, one of said heads being permanently afiixed to the body and the second of said heads being removable from the body, the combination of A. a head assembly incorporating said second flanged head and being removably connectable to one end of the said body,

1. said head assembly being provided with an axially aligned opening therein and including a flexible insert having generally hollow, cylindrical sidewalls,

a. said sidewalls terminating inwardly in a closed end,

b. said sidewalls having an outer peripheral surface which contacts the body to lock the head assembly to the body,

2. said head assembly including an operating stern which is reciprocal within the axially aligned opening from an initial position to a final position,

a. said operating stem terminating inwardly in bearing surface means and outwardly in a cam lever connection,

b. said bearing surface means pulling against the closed end of the insert to outwardly flex the insert sidewalls when the stem reciprocates to its final position,

3. and a cam lever affixed to the cam lever connection of the operating stem,

a. said cam lever pivotally moving from an initial position to a final position, said cam lever pulling the operating stem to its final position when the cam lever is pivoted to the cam lever final position.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said insert side ls em refl ilethan ei se cosede d.

3. l l' ie iiivent ion o c aim 1 w erein e insert ci osed end is relatively inflexible and the insert sidewalls are relatively flexible so that axial forces imposed upon the said insert will flex the sidewalls to a. greater degree than the said closed end.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein a plurality of depressions are formed in the insert sidewall outer surface.

5. The invention of claim 4 wherein the said depressions are formed in annular spaced relation.

6. The invention of claim 4 wherein the depressions are formed in axial alignment about the periphery of the sidewall.

7. The invention of claim 4 wherein the said depressions are arranged in spaced annular relation and in axial alignment about the periphery of the insert sidewall.

8. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said cam lever includes an operating leg and a cam leg, the said cam leg terminating outwardly in a cam surface, the said cam surface contacting a portion of the second head when the cam is pivoted from its said initial position to its said finale position.

9. The invention of the claim 8 wherein the centerline of the cam leg turns past the axis of the operating stem when in the final position to lock the head assembly in its final position.

10. The invention of claim 1 wherein the distance between the insert closed end and the second flanged head is least when the operating stern reciprocates to its said final position. 

1. In a film wind-up spool of the type incorporating a hollow body and a pair of a laterally spaced flanged heads, one of said heads being permanently affixed to the body and the secOnd of said heads being removable from the body, the combination of A. a head assembly incorporating said second flanged head and being removably connectable to one end of the said body,
 1. said head assembly being provided with an axially aligned opening therein and including a flexible insert having generally hollow, cylindrical sidewalls, a. said sidewalls terminating inwardly in a closed end, b. said sidewalls having an outer peripheral surface which contacts the body to lock the head assembly to the body,
 2. said head assembly including an operating stem which is reciprocal within the axially aligned opening from an initial position to a final position, a. said operating stem terminating inwardly in bearing surface means and outwardly in a cam lever connection, b. said bearing surface means pulling against the closed end of the insert to outwardly flex the insert sidewalls when the stem reciprocates to its final position,
 3. and a cam lever affixed to the cam lever connection of the operating stem, a. said cam lever pivotally moving from an initial position to a final position, said cam lever pulling the operating stem to its final position when the cam lever is pivoted to the cam lever final position.
 2. said head assembly including an operating stem which is reciprocal within the axially aligned opening from an initial position to a final position, a. said operating stem terminating inwardly in bearing surface means and outwardly in a cam lever connection, b. said bearing surface means pulling against the closed end of the insert to outwardly flex the insert sidewalls when the stem reciprocates to its final position,
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said insert sidewalls are more flexible than the insert closed end.
 3. The invention of claim 1 wherein the insert closed end is relatively inflexible and the insert sidewalls are relatively flexible so that axial forces imposed upon the said insert will flex the sidewalls to a greater degree than the said closed end.
 3. and a cam lever affixed to the cam lever connection of the operating stem, a. said cam lever pivotally moving from an initial position to a final position, said cam lever pulling the operating stem to its final position when the cam lever is pivoted to the cam lever final position.
 4. The invention of claim 1 wherein a plurality of depressions are formed in the insert sidewall outer surface.
 5. The invention of claim 4 wherein the said depressions are formed in annular spaced relation.
 6. The invention of claim 4 wherein the depressions are formed in axial alignment about the periphery of the sidewall.
 7. The invention of claim 4 wherein the said depressions are arranged in spaced annular relation and in axial alignment about the periphery of the insert sidewall.
 8. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said cam lever includes an operating leg and a cam leg, the said cam leg terminating outwardly in a cam surface, the said cam surface contacting a portion of the second head when the cam is pivoted from its said initial position to its said finale position.
 9. The invention of the claim 8 wherein the centerline of the cam leg turns past the axis of the operating stem when in the final position to lock the head assembly in its final position.
 10. The invention of claim 1 wherein the distance between the insert closed end and the second flanged head is least when the operating stem reciprocates to its said final position. 